Page 185 - Appreciative Leadership

158 Appreciative Leadership

I made a medical error. Fortunately, no one was harmed.
So I took a risk, and I reported it to our quality and safety
team. I ‘ratted’ on myself; and I’ve been afraid all week that
I would lose my job. Even though I went to the training and
heard it said over and over that under our new policy there
will be no negative consequences if we report errors, I just
didn’t believe it until today. I want to read from the e-mail
I received this morning.” She began:

“Dear Mary, Thank you for reporting the error you
made last week. We too are happy that no one was harmed.
We are especially grateful to you for reporting it. As you
know, our new policy is based on two beliefs: One, over
the course of a day, a week, a month, or a year, we all
make mistakes. And, two, quality care and safety for our
patients and our staff, at all levels, depends on all of us

being transparent with our errors. Thank you for having

the courage and integrity to do so.”

The e-mail went on to describe what would happen
next: how the report would be handled, who would review
it, and what they would do as a result. It listed a number
of changes that had already been made based on other
people’s quality reports.
Not only was Mary not going to lose her job, she was
being informed about steps being taken to improve quality
and safety throughout the whole health system—something
she obviously cared about enough to risk her job and her
career.

Appreciative Leadership begins and ends with integrity. When
you are on the path of integrity, people know it. They follow your ideas

and ideals. They model their ways of working after yours. And they

contribute their best to the ideals you put forth.
When you are off the path of integrity, people sense it. They see it

in your actions—when the way you relate to people minimizes them,